Hong Kong fans have snapped up 10,000 tickets for next Sunday's Tottenham Hotspur v South China game at Hong Kong Stadium - thanks to the most expensive seats being reasonably priced.

A FA spokesman said more than 3,000 tickets were sold at Hong Kong Stadium when ticket counters opened yesterday - the other 7,000 being internal tickets purchased by credit card and internal sales at the Hong Kong FA. About 90 per cent of the most expensive tickets - HK$250 - have been sold, while a limited number of tickets for students and the elderly (660 at HK$100) were grabbed a few hours after going on sale. Many HK$200 tickets on the upper tier remain unsold.

Football Association chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak said the response had been 'positive'. 'I'm quite happy with the response as it is only the first day of tickets going on sale to the public. We still have another week before the match, so we hope around 30,000 fans turn up. Each ticket includes the price of admission for two games, not just one,' he said. 'We also have a curtain-raiser between [local club TSW] Pegasus and Thai club, Sasana.'

Fans happily dished out HK$250 for the premier tickets. 'It's not every day you get to watch some of the top players from the English Premier League. I paid $1,200 to watch Barcelona in 2007, so this match is quite cheap compared to the Barcelona game,' said Philip Ng Chun-pong.

'The Spurs match is not expensive at all. When I watched Manchester United play in Hong Kong a few years ago [in 2005], I paid $500 or $600 for tickets,' he said.

Student Marco Wan Hing-wo said he was forced to buy a HK$250 ticket after all the HK$100 student tickets were sold out.

'I came here a bit too late for the student tickets, but it's okay to pay $250 for a ticket to watch well-known players from the Premier League. We only watch these teams on TV, so it's nice to watch them up close,' he said.

Student Kit Cheng, who bought one HK$250 ticket, added: 'The ticket price is not expensive. I would spend up to $1,000 for a ticket to see Manchester United.'